Unexplained Mysteries in Mohammed Cartoon Controversy

Most of us remember the riots across the Islamic world that ensued in 2005 after the Danish publication Jyllands-Posten printed its now-infamous collection of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Now the New York Times (which points out that it refused to run the cartoons) is reporting that Yale University Press has brought the controversy to the fore once again by refusing to print the cartoons in an upcoming book.

The name of that upcoming book? The Cartoons That Shook the World.

That’s right: Yale University Press has determined that a book that is all about the reaction to the Danish Mohammed cartoons should not itself depict those cartoons. According to the Times, “The cartoons are freely available on the Internet and can be accurately described in words, [Yale University Press Director John] Donatich said, so reprinting them could be interpreted easily as gratuitous.”

How wrongheaded! As FIRE President Greg Lukianoff pointed out back in 2006, “verbal depictions of editorial cartoons usually end up interpreting cartoons, but part of the art of editorial cartooning is that the cartoon may be interpreted in any of a range of ways.” Written descriptions of the cartoons are virtually certain to include the interpretations of those reading the cartoons — but like any examples of art, they can have different meanings for different people.

Further, merely from a historical perspective, the “hey, look it up on the Internet” defense is massively shortsighted. The possibility that the book may be picked up 30 years from now when the controversy is but a distant memory and the images might not be so easily available on the Internet (or some successor computer network) either did not occur to Donatich or was not considered persuasive.

Even more disturbingly, though, Yale University Press claims that its refusal to print the cartoons in a book in which they could not possibly be more relevant was widely supported by experts in the field:

So Yale University and Yale University Press consulted two dozen authorities, including diplomats and experts on Islam and counterterrorism, and the recommendation was unanimous: The book, The Cartoons That Shook the World, should not include the 12 Danish drawings that originally appeared in September 2005. What’s more, they suggested that the Yale press also refrain from publishing any other illustrations of the prophet that were to be included, specifically, a drawing for a children’s book; an Ottoman print; and a sketch by the 19th-century artist Gustave Doré of Muhammad being tormented in Hell, an episode from Dante’s “Inferno” that has been depicted by Botticelli, Blake, Rodin and Dalí.

It is interesting that the Times says that Yale consulted “diplomats and experts on Islam and counterterrorism” as opposed to “scholars in the field.” While diplomats and counterterrorism experts (understandably) wish to avoid any possible inflammation of opinion in the Islamic world, this is hardly the basis on which an academic press should make its decision. Even odder is the fact that the decision was reportedly “unanimous,” meaning that out of the 24 people asked to give an opinion, not one of them thought that printing the Mohammed cartoons in a book about the Mohammed cartoons was a good idea.

This echoes the craven denunciation of Christians (particularly Mormons) by Gay activists and their Hollywood minions after the Proposition 8 victory in California. The truth is, the Black and Hispanic voters in the state were crucial and decisive in pushing the initiative to victory. Why weren’t they denounced? The same strain of pathetic cowardice that has infected Yale and the rest of liberal academia.

But I don’t think that what Yale is displaying is “cravenness in the face of controversy” or “privileging political correctness”.

This reaction, of not printing “controversial” materials, is entirely specific to islamic materials. Yale would not hesitate to print opinions, cartoons, polemics… about any other current topic: certainly not about any other current religion.

It’s cowardice. They’re swayed by the anticipation of violent reactions.

Yale’s profs are “covered” by tenure from politicized critics. Justification for tenure includes the idea that politically and culturally unpopular ideas can be expressed without fear of retribution, both from within the university and outside its ivy walls. There’s simply no excuse for not publishing any idea that potentially inflammatory.

This reaction, of not printing “controversial” materials, is entirely specific to islamic materials. Yale would not hesitate to print opinions, cartoons, polemics… about any other current topic [snip]
It’s cowardice. They’re swayed by the anticipation of violent reactions.
Aug 14, 2009 – 10:28 am

Good observation. The correct word for this sort of cowardice is “Dhimmitude”. It’s the first step on the path toward “zealous tolerance” and foreshadows acceptance of Sharia, Islamization of culture, and eventually, Jizzya Tax. Older socieites that have allowed themselves to come under Islamic supremacy are quite familiar with it. Dhimmitude gets internalized so severely that gradually one’s own native born identity becomes diluted, denied and subsidiary to an Islamic identity.

Fear is the key that propelled Islam across time and space. Such is the power of brain-washing. America needs a strong, clear headed leader who will cure Americans of such cowardice masquerading as tolerance and will give back America it’s self-confidence. But who is such a leader?

The world is becoming curiouser and curiouser as time rolls on. The ‘Far Side’ cartoon are beginning to make more sense. Cows smoking cigarettes and drinking beer until a car passes and they assume their customary behavior, appears to be a stronger possibility of the reality we live in.

When will Yale return to what we assume is a bastion of higher learning?

11. Lynn: My favorite is the two guys sleeping in hell. One of them wakes up from a nightmare, and the other says “It was only nightmare. Of course, we ARE still in hell.” Yup, that about sums up the times we live in.

I say print the stupid things – print the hell out of them. Over-expose them, post them on telephone poles and freeway overpasses, alongside the Obama/Joker/Socialism posters.

It’s time to stop cowering like whipped dogs. This country does not belong to Islam – it belongs to Americans.

“The president of the American Association of University Professors, Cary Nelson, said in an open letter that the organisation’s members “deplore this decision and its potential consequences”. “They are not responding to protests against the book; they and a number of their consultants are anticipating them and making or recommending concessions beforehand … What is to stop publishers from suppressing an author’s words if it appears they may offend religious fundamentalists or groups threatening violence?” Nelson wrote.” ‘We do not negotiate with terrorists. We just accede to their anticipated demands.’ That is effectively the new policy position at Yale University Press.”.”

In other words, the Politically Correct Academic Elite have succumbed to the rule of censorship, which as we all know, is not a very politically correct thing to do.

I just love the irony and paradox that is leftism and faux-intellectualism. A bunch of useful idiots, pandering to terrorists, who would not hesitate to saw their PC heads right off if the chance presented itself.

All good comments so far. Two thoughts. The first is that we seem to becoming Dhimmi in our country. This cannot stand. If Moslems don’t like the 1st Amendment, there about 200 other countries they can choose from where there is no 1st Amendment.

Second thought: I am sure Yale would have no problem depicting Jesus in some pornographic pose or Christian objects being desecrated. Oh but can’t offend those Moslems – I guess that would be like yelling fire in a crowded theater.

While I can appreciate the perceived wrongness of even posing the question, I cannot but wonder how the mad ones would react if they raised their usual violent ruckus and were met with overpowering violence in return.

‘Twould at least be something of a surprise, however unpleasant, for the screaming droolers… perhaps even a tiny harbinger of what’s in store for them down the road.

At Yale as at Columbia and many other so-called universities, only certain “free speech” is permitted.

I found much the same situation at a State University many years ago. Getting seriously involved in physics and quantum mechanics forces students to think about some really profound issues.

A professor had made a statement that apparently conflicted with his own source and I questioned him about it. He said he couldn’t divert class time for such a discussion but offered me an appointment in his office. I accepted and he went on with his lecture.

We met at the appointed time though he was a bit late and entered his office. I repeated my question and added a bit of information from one of the authors of the text we had on quantum mechanics and asked him how it agreed with his expressed viewpoint. I told him that I was quite willing to be persuaded through logic and mathematics of the validity of his argument. I did so respectfully as the professor graded my work.

The man exploded. It was evident that nobody had posed a rational question to this professor in some time and he was incapable of providing a coherent answer.

Next exam I took, I received an F though my responses have since been validated by others. When the F came through, I dropped the course as there was still a day left for a failing grade not to be reflected on my 4.0 record.

As I was paying tuition out of pocket, it was money wasted. I continued to attend the classes which annoyed Dr. B immensely but at that university, there was no rule against it. I asked no questions but others did and received the same treatment with more adverse effects on their transcripts.

It was not for nothing that we referred to him as “Captain Bligh” as his name was a bit similar for the first syllable. Classmates occasionally referred to me as “Mr. Christian”.

There are many examples of bigotry by academics that go back many years and have worsened rather than gotten better. Asking a legitimate and intelligent question of most professors is fraught with risk for the student.

When I attended college, I had already attended a war and wasn’t very afraid of professors.

John Dimitich, you are the lowest, most despicable species of cowards–those who betray not because they face a real, life-threatening danger, but because they fear loss of status if they don’t seize the opportunity to advance it.

John Dimitich, you are also an intellectual fake. Can anyone imagine a history of any culture, any regime, any event without the images that pertain to it? Can you imagine a scholarly history of the holocaust, of the gulag, of the Civil War, and so on, without the images that have been preserved? Can you fathom a history of the Renaissance without its iconography? What are doing presiding over one of the supposedly finest university presses in the “free world”?
One thing is certain, Dimitich: there’ll be no shortage of moneys from Islamic foundations for Yale from now on, as wel as trips for you and the family to the Emirates and the Saudi, for conferences on behalf of “universal peace and understanding” and pool-side cocktails and bargain shopping. Just don’t mind the prostitutes and the garbage scavengers, most of whom are women and non-Arab immigrants.

I really hope you have the sense to retire after this fiasco, and I also hope your Islamist friends provide you with a lifetime free condo in one of their gawdy sky-scrapers in Dubai or Qatar, if not a villa. Just stay away from my country.

One point that has hardly been alluded to: Our government which (in the name of freedom of religion) cannot contribute to biblical Christianity being taught (the ‘establishment of a religion’) in any state-funded school, can – and does – routinely give billions of dollars in foreign aid to Muslim countries. These countries then spend part of that money persecuting Christians in their respective countries. Part goes to train Muslim extremists. However, part of the money is channeled back to the United States through various groups and used to fund Islamic studies run by and favorable to Muslims. In other words our own government is, both directly and indirectly, funding the very religion that undermines all the principles upon which this country was founded. Is not the government violating the First Amendment by giving money to governments that are run by an established religion

As the old saying goes “A picture says a thousand words”. The most famous of the Muhammed cartoons is the one showing him wearing a bomb in his turban. People immediately understand the meaning of this – that Muhammed was a terrorist.

Was Muhammed a terrorist?

From Islams second most important texts, the Ahadith:
Bukhari (52:220) – Allah’s Apostle (Muhammed)said… “I have been made victorious with terror”

So yes, Muhammed was a self admitted terrorist. But he was even more, even worse. As can be found in the Koran, the Ahadith and Sira, Muhammed was
- a murderer
- a slaver
- a human trafficker
- a torturer
- a beheader
- a mutilator
- an amputator
- a rapist
- a sex trafficker
- a sexual deviant
- a paedophile rapist
- a liar
- a looter & thief
- a genocidist
- a sadistic megalomaniac motivated be unquenchable lust, greed and power.

It’s no wonder the Islamists don’t want any depiction or discussion about their “holy” prophet. In fact, Muhammed was one of the most vile men in human history, violating every standard of human decency and establishing that as the moral standard for his followers.

The Koran fetes Muhammed as “an excellent model of conduct”. Why would anyone consider a man who was a thousand times worse than Charles Manson to be a role model?

The truth about Muhammed must be told. It is the only way to understand the violence of Islam, a barbarian religion founded by a barbarian sociopath.

Muhammed should be repudiated, not respected. Muhammed should be reviled, not revered. And like Charles Manson, Muhammed should have been incarcerated, not venerated.

Muhammed was directly responsible for immeasurable suffering, human rights violations, and death. Please don’t cower in the face of this evil.

Please help spread the truth about Muhammed. If we lose our freedom of speech, and if we lose the truth, we have lost our culture. And the Islamists, willing to kill in the name of Muhammed, will rule.

Long ago I stumbled across a truth. In our mistaken efforts to provide higher education to all, colleges and universities are filled with students who do not have the capacity to do intellectual work at the higher level. This, of course, requires the schools to hire professors who do not have the capacity to teach at that level. Thus all of the trash courses. And, forgive me, the politicization of the English departments. My alma mater (one of them) ..Auburn.. is one of the worst.

What “unexplained” mysteries? The answers are obvious, not “unexplained.”
Yale has long taken Saudi money and done Saudi bidding. Some NYC/DC/Boston lawyer representing Saudi interests visited Prof. Chamberlain and the YUP and simply explained the logic of omitting the the pictures from the book about the pictures and, “viola.”

“Long ago I stumbled across a truth. In our mistaken efforts to provide higher education to all, colleges and universities are filled with students who do not have the capacity to do intellectual work at the higher level.”

I think the mistake was teaching that a person without a college education was of more worth than a man without, and pushing a pencil deserved more than making the pencil and I don’t mean monetarily. We forgot that those with skills such as the trades and crafts or yes even the ones who dig the ditches or pick up the garbage deserve honor and respect also and their is no shame in NOT going to college if a lived is lived well.

This entire debate shows the bottom line: truth is being repressed. Thus muslim academics end up at the bottom of the pile because islam keeps repressing the truth. They’re actually seeking ignorance. And Christian academics end up at the top because Christianity doesn’t mind a rip-roaring debate about the truth. While the race to the bottom may be OK for muslim academics, we’re in real trouble if islamic ignorance spreads to the Christians amongst us.

Progressoverpeace, #49, gets to the heart of the matter. Having taught college history for 7 years before getting fed up, I can assure you that neither world nor Middle Eastern history texts refer to Jesus as “The Christ,” “The Messiah,” or “The Son of God”–yet Muhammad is ALWAYS called “the Prophet” (usually capitalized). I don’t think this privileging of Islam and Muslims is done so much out of fear of reprisal as it is out of a Leftist conviction that since Christians = Westerners, they are, and always have been, conquerors and oppressors and, on the other side, Muslims = permanent victims–therefore, they must be deferred to. I was in an interview for an Islamic history professorship once and several on the search committee (Ph.Ds in history and philosophy) were in denial and disbelief when I discussed the fact that many other Middle Easterners (including Muslism)saw the OTTOMANS as imperialists–which they were.
Here’s the article about it: http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/3646

48: Lynn
Are you speaking of intrinsic value? In that case, I wholly agree with you. But if you are talking about the value of true education and the ability to think incisively and objectively, I disagree. We need our universities to return to their past glory and teach their students how to think. And focus on the intellectual development of those who can appreciate (ie, take advantage of) the opportunity. Higher education should not be just another place to park kids while they grow up.

Unfortunately, you’re either a mormon or uninformed. Mormonism fails to meet the criteria of true Christianity as it fails to recognize Jesus Christ as He’s revealed Himself in Scripture (true Scripture, uninterpreted by a “false prophet”). Smith, as with the case of mormonism calling itself Christianity, is no more a true “prophet” than Mohammed. He fails to meet the accepted biblical criteria of a true prophet due to his many failed “prophecies”, such as America’s falling apart by a certain date. There was also a claim about one of his fellow mormons of the time who died prior to Smith’s alleged “prophecy” coming to fruition. (Unfortunately, the individuals’ name escapes me and I don’t have time to send my research along.) These facts, along with many more well documented failures accepted by all who’ve done the research (outside of those who follow mormonisms’ bad theology and ever changing doctrines), are facts in defense of my assertion that mormonism isn’t Christian AND Smith was no prophet. The “burning in the bosom” so often referred to in many mormons’ testimonies is not any indication of their “truth”, as the Lord Himself says to trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Further, in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Perhaps there’s a way to disrupt the distribution process of the book and therefore hit them where it hurts the most, in the pocketbook. You know take a few moments to tie up phone lines, placing phantom orders etc.

We all need to take a closer look at the historical strategy and tactics of the radical left. Take a couple of minutes out of your week and look up what worked for individuals such as Abbey Hoffman,Leon Trotsky etc. I’m not suggesting violence, but a lot can be learned. The most we do now is post sarcastic comments or cool photoshop renderings. Remember we are ultimately fighting for our freedom. Just think about it!!!

As I came across this article, I decided to post my comments on the article by Roger Kilmallon the same subject.

“82. Jaladhi:

If only the Yale University Alumni stops contributing to Yale Alumni fund because of this wanton willingness of the University to be cowed down by Muslims, the University might change its decision to remove Motoons from the book. Its unbelievable what our unversities have now become – they lie, cower under threat of Muslims, ready to change the history, – all this is the result of suffering from political correctness disease. Our MSM, political leaders and the academia – all suffer from PC. Among the many effects of PC are lying, distorting truth, willingness to change and rewrite history, etc to appease any section of society and especially Muslims because they threaten us with dire consequences since they don’t like truth be told about them.

Also our major unversities are recepients of major amount of funds from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries to establish departments of Middle eastern studies. The academics in these departments don’t tell the truth about Islam and are apologists for Islam. Unless the flow of these funds from Middle East is stopped, we will be seeing this deliberate disregard for truth about Islam from the professors in these universities.

The western society has no backbone left to defend and uphold the the principles that made this country great and the academia, universties, MSM and the politiocal leaders are doing their best to hasten the demise of our culture.

The suicidal spiral of the West continues unless the disease of PC is treated once and for all. Let truth reign supreme, if we want to survive!!!